FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rep. Green Calls For Answers From Clarksville-Montgomery County School District
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.,—Today, in a letter sent to Clarksville-Montgomery County School District Director of Schools Dr. Jean Luna-Vedder, Rep. Mark Green called for answers after CMCSS educators were given the option to learn Critical Race Theory tenets during the school district’s summer ENGAGE professional development seminar.
Green said, “I’m calling for transparency from CMCSS. School started last week—parents deserve to know what kind of learning environment CMCSS is fostering for their children. Tennesseans want their children to learn the fundamentals: reading, writing, and arithmetic. They certainly do not want their child to be indoctrinated with pseudo-history and radical social justice theories.”
“The district’s decision to host, and financially support, this conference demonstrates that despite the State of Tennessee’s law prohibiting K-12 schools from teaching divisive CRT ideologies in public schools, many administrators are intent on forcing CRT theories onto students and teachers—a clear violation of state law. I’m concerned by the lack of action CMCSS has taken and its failure to unequivocally renounce this seminar and the racist ideology of CRT,” continued Green.
An excerpt from the letter reads:
“The district’s annual ENGAGE conference in July included a presentation slideshow that taught even everyday language can cause trauma; for example, phrases like “make this for your mommy.” Further, it claimed that even the mere mention of “Christmas” is traumatic, because according to this seminar, being a Christian makes you “privileged,” while being any other religion makes you “oppressed.” This troubling and divisive presentation also claimed that being either white, male, or middle class means you are “privileged,” while being a person of color, a woman, or “nonbinary, trans, or gender queer” makes you “oppressed.” The seminar also provided educators with a CRT informed reading list that included “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,” the “SAFE SPACE – A Guide to Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual KIT and Transgender Students in Your School,” “The Racial Healing Handbook,” “Just the Facts about Sexual Orientation and Youth,” and “I Take My Coffee Black.”
Read the letter here.
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